In his paper, 'In Appreciation of “Reluctant” Prophets' William John Lyons from the University of Bristol reflects on the way Baptists read the Bible. He suggests that our practice of community discernment is badly under-used when it comes to hearing from scripture, and that we ignore our Baptist 'experts' on the Bible at our peril.
He points to 'the deep wells of creativity, the almost-electric vitality, and the steadfast and hopeful conviction' and suggests that 'to be a Baptist is at its very best to partake in and of one of the most radical, Christo-centric, counter-cultural, communally satisfying, and life-giving segments of the Christian tradition.'
Against this, however, he notes that 'the flip side of Baptists being viewed as people of promise is what I can only see as the unavoidable conclusion that they have all too often fallen short of their potential and have all too often remained a people of unfulfilled promise.' Further, he observes that 'few Baptist
churches seem to me to inhabit the radical and prophetic space that their own language about themselves and especially about their use of scripture clearly implies that they should.' Indeed, 'Baptist churchmen and women as I have typically encountered them are too often little more than members of pan-evangelical churches'.
He continues, 'When one also considers the role that scripture played in discussions about women in ministry in the 1920s—virtually none—for example, or the irony of the Baptist World Alliance having commissions on numerous and diverse theological and ethical topics, but none dealing with scripture itself, or the damage caused by the apparent absence of an open debate about human sexuality—so often, as we know, a hermeneutical issue rather than an ethical one—within contemporary Baptist settings, the problem seems to be one that is present at every level of the Baptist world. Is it really the case that scripture within Baptist churches as we know them functions as the church’s central witness to its Lord, being interpreted by those who stand among the body of believers and then the truth of the matter being weighed by the many of the community, or is it actually the case that scripture is often simply being silenced or replaced rather than heard?'
He concludes by suggesting that 'the time for reticence is long past. Instead, it is time for these prophets to speak loudly and openly, and it is time for the Baptist churches to listen and to weigh their words. It is time for the Baptist tradition to look once again at its riches and to ask if the churches that claim that designation are really all that they are able to be.'
Download the full article below.
Originally published in The ‘plainly revealed’ Word of God: Baptist Hermeneutics in Theory and Practice, ed. Helen Dare and Simon P. Woodman, (Macon GA: Mercer University Press, 2011).
He points to 'the deep wells of creativity, the almost-electric vitality, and the steadfast and hopeful conviction' and suggests that 'to be a Baptist is at its very best to partake in and of one of the most radical, Christo-centric, counter-cultural, communally satisfying, and life-giving segments of the Christian tradition.'
Against this, however, he notes that 'the flip side of Baptists being viewed as people of promise is what I can only see as the unavoidable conclusion that they have all too often fallen short of their potential and have all too often remained a people of unfulfilled promise.' Further, he observes that 'few Baptist
churches seem to me to inhabit the radical and prophetic space that their own language about themselves and especially about their use of scripture clearly implies that they should.' Indeed, 'Baptist churchmen and women as I have typically encountered them are too often little more than members of pan-evangelical churches'.
He continues, 'When one also considers the role that scripture played in discussions about women in ministry in the 1920s—virtually none—for example, or the irony of the Baptist World Alliance having commissions on numerous and diverse theological and ethical topics, but none dealing with scripture itself, or the damage caused by the apparent absence of an open debate about human sexuality—so often, as we know, a hermeneutical issue rather than an ethical one—within contemporary Baptist settings, the problem seems to be one that is present at every level of the Baptist world. Is it really the case that scripture within Baptist churches as we know them functions as the church’s central witness to its Lord, being interpreted by those who stand among the body of believers and then the truth of the matter being weighed by the many of the community, or is it actually the case that scripture is often simply being silenced or replaced rather than heard?'
He concludes by suggesting that 'the time for reticence is long past. Instead, it is time for these prophets to speak loudly and openly, and it is time for the Baptist churches to listen and to weigh their words. It is time for the Baptist tradition to look once again at its riches and to ask if the churches that claim that designation are really all that they are able to be.'
Download the full article below.
Originally published in The ‘plainly revealed’ Word of God: Baptist Hermeneutics in Theory and Practice, ed. Helen Dare and Simon P. Woodman, (Macon GA: Mercer University Press, 2011).

William John Lyons - In Appreciation of Reluctant Prophets |